Cristiano Ronaldo a Goal Machine and Money-making Machine for Ambitious Juventus

Agencies
November 7, 2018

Nov 7: Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation has been tarnished by allegations of rape, but Juventus still believe he will help the Italian giants to reduce the financial gap between them and the world's very biggest clubs.

Juventus take on Manchester United -- the world's richest club and where Ronaldo became a star -- in Turin on Wednesday knowing a draw will seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

They are counting on 'CR7' as they look to win the Champions League for the first time since 1996 -- they have lost five finals since then, including in 2015 and 2017. Ronaldo, now 33, has won the trophy five times himself.

"Financially it has been a very rational move," financial expert Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffe news agency. "The lifetime value of a player extends longer than his biological age.

"On the pitch he's one of the best. Ronaldo also makes the news, he gives visibility, conversation, discussion...raises your intangible value."

The news recently has been as much about the rape allegations in the United States, which Ronaldo himself has strongly denied, insisting he is "an example, 100 percent on and off the pitch".

But Juve president Andrea Agnelli -- who has orchestrated their domination in Italy since taking over the family-owned club in 2010 -- believes "the Ronaldo effect" can propel the "Old Lady of Turin" into another stratosphere.

"We are fully convinced that Ronaldo is an added value in every respect, in terms of business, and will facilitate our global expansion," said Agnelli, who wants to target the US, Chinese and Southeast Asian markets.

According to the Deloitte Football Money League, Juventus are tenth in Europe with annual revenues of 405.7 million euros ($463 million) in 2017, with only three Italian clubs featuring in the top 20.

Manchester United top the list on 676.3 million euros ahead of Real Madrid (674.6m) and Barcelona (648.3m).

On the pitch, Ronaldo has made an impact, scoring seven goals in the champions' best-ever start to a Serie A season. They are on track for an eighth consecutive league title.

Carnevale Maffe believes that Juventus can only gain despite the high price of a deal estimated to cost 340 million euros in total over four years, on top of the 110 million-euro transfer fee.

"When you are so close to success, all the planning, all the strategy may not be enough...the touch of genius is needed, and Ronaldo has that," added Carnevale Maffe, who lectures in Corporate Strategy at Milan's Bocconi School of Management.

'Robust'

Since Ronaldo-fever gripped Juventus, the club's share price jumped from 0.69 euros on July 3, to 1.672 euros on September 19.

But it then dropped 34 percent, starting to slide after his red card in the Champions League against Valencia, followed by the emergence of rape allegations in the United States.

While Ronaldo has denied the claims, two of his sponsors, Nike and EA Sports, said they were "closely monitoring" what Nike called "disturbing allegations".

"There is always an element of random events, unpredictable elements," said Carnevale Maffe.

"Players are physically fragile but business-wise Ronaldo is one of the most robust assets."

The real hope is that Ronaldo will not only help Juventus win the Champions League but attract lucrative commercial deals that will make the Italian club number one in the world.

The father of four has over 323.4 million followers across all social media platforms and is now the most followed person on Instagram with 145 million.

Since his arrival the club's following on social media has increased from 49 million to 62 million.

They say they are already on track for record Ronaldo kit sales for the season, with the black and white shirts costing up to 150 euros each.

Juventus also increased the price of season tickets by 30 percent while talks with Ronaldo were still secret, with all 29,300 sold.

Their 41,507-seat stadium is not as big as other leading European clubs so finding extra revenue not generated from ticket sales is all the more important.

But audit group KPMG have estimated the "Ronaldo effect" will see Juve's revenue jump to 500 million euros in the next two to three seasons.

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Agencies
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the third-fastest batsman to register 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

He achieved the feat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Only Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have achieved the feat faster than Rohit.

Sharma brought up the milestone in the first over of the Indian innings as he clipped Mitchell Starc away for a single.

With this, the right-handed batsman has become just the sixth Indian to achieve the milestone.

Apart from Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have more than 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Overall, 20 batsmen have more than 9,000 ODI runs to their name.

In the match between India and Australia, the former won the toss and elected to bat first.

Steve Smith played a knock of 131 runs to propel Australia to 286/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

 

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

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Agencies
April 2,2020

Lausanne, Apr 2: The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and the shutdown of the sporting calendar because of the coronavirus pandemic are going to hit international sports federations hard financially.

Many sports that are part of the Games depend heavily on the payouts every four years from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"The situation is tense and very gloomy. An assessment will be made, but clearly some posts are under threat," said an official of a major international federation.

The 28 international federations (IF) of the sports that were due to be present at the Tokyo Olympics, would have received substantial sums from the IOC.

However, the postponement of the Games until 2021 could lead to a freeze of their payment.

"We have a lot of IF with substantial reserves, but others work on a different business model, they have income from major events which are suspended, which can be a problem for the cashflow if they don't have enough reserves," said Andrew Ryan, director general of the Association of International Olympic Summer Sports Federations (ASOIF), which is responsible for distributing this money.

The five additions to the Tokyo Games programme - karate, surfing, skateboarding, climbing and baseball/softball - are not eligible.

The Olympic payout totalled 520 million after the Rio Games, four years ago.

"The Olympic money could be less than for Rio 2016," Ryan warned before adding: "My advice is to budget the same as in Rio".

The federations receive money on a sliding scale determined by their audience and size.

The three largest (athletics, swimming and gymnastics) can expect approximately 40 million.

For the second tier, made up of cycling, basketball, volleyball, football and tennis, the sum is 25 million.

For group three, which contains eight sports, including boxing, rowing, judo and table tennis, it is 17 million.

The nine sports in the next level (including sailing, canoing and fencing) receive 12 million.

For the three in the last category (rugby, golf, modern pentathlon) the payout is 7 million.

For the largest associations, such as football's FIFA which has a 1.5 billion nest egg, or basketball body FIBA which has CHF 44.4 million (42 million euros) in reserves, IOC aid represents a small proportion of their income.

For others, it is vital.

"Some IF probably don't have the cashflow to survive one year," said Ryan.

For most federations, the postponement of the Olympic Games has a domino effect, forcing them to reschedule their own money-earning competitions.

"The revenues from these events will eventually come in," said Ryan. "But this impacts the cashflow." World Athletics has already postponed the 2021 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon to 2022.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) will have to do the same for its World Championships scheduled for next summer in Fukuoka, Japan, when they would probably clash with the Tokyo Games.

"One edition of the World Championships means for us 10 million in revenues," said one sports federation official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"If this income is postponed, totally or partially, for a year, we will face major problems, especially if the IOC money, originally expected in September, is not paid out."

The Singapore-based International Table Tennis Federation has already taken steps, with "the Executive Committee agreeing to reduce their expenses and senior staff offering to take a salary reduction," said marketing director Matt Pound, but, he added,"further cuts will take place if needed."

- 'Significant loss of revenue' -

The ITTF has suspended all its competitions until June and that is costly.

Kim Andersen, the Danish president of London-based World Sailing, said commercial revenues are not immune.

"The IOC will eventually pay out its aid, but what weighs most heavily is the uncertainty about whether our competitions will be held and whether our sponsors will be maintained," he said.

The IOC is not prepared to go into details of what it plans.

"It is not possible at this stage to assess the overall impact" of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, an official told AFP.

"It depends on a number of variables that are currently being studied." According to an official of one federation: "the IOC will discuss on a case-by-case basis, sport by sport".

Another option is for the federations to ask for a share of the public aid set up to deal with the coronavirus crisis, in Switzerland, where 22 ASOIF members are based and also in the United Kingdom, home of World Sailing.

"Can sports federations benefit from federal aid? The answer is yes, in principle," Philippe Leuba, State Councillor of the canton of Vaud, in charge of the economy and sport, told.

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